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Astrophysics

Title:
Formation of Protoplanets from Massive Planetesimals in Binary Systems

Abstract: More than half of stars reside in binary or multiple star systems and many
planets have been found in binary systems. From theoretical point of view,
however, whether or not the planetary formation proceeds in a binary system is
a very complex problem, because secular perturbation from the companion star
can easily stir up the eccentricity of the planetesimals and cause
high-velocity, destructive collisions between planetesimals. Early stage of
planetary formation process in binary systems has been studied by restricted
three-body approach with gas drag and it is commonly accepted that accretion of
planetesimals can proceed due to orbital phasing by gas drag. However, the gas
drag becomes less effective as the planetesimals become massive. Therefore it
is still uncertain whether the collision velocity remains small and planetary
accretion can proceed, once the planetesimals become massive. We performed {\it
N}-body simulations of planetary formation in binary systems starting from
massive planetesimals whose size is about 100-500 km. We found that the
eccentricity vectors of planetesimals quickly converge to the forced
eccentricity due to the coupling of the perturbation of the companion and the
mutual interaction of planetesimals if the initial disk model is sufficiently
wide in radial distribution. This convergence decreases the collision velocity
and as a result accretion can proceed much in the same way as in isolated
systems. The basic processes of the planetary formation, such as runaway growth
and oligarchic growth and final configuration of the protoplanets are
essentially the same in binary systems and single star systems, at least in the
late stage where the effect of gas drag is small.